Travels in Eire #67

The long weekend ended and Cailin and Darren headed back to Ireland after a trip to Cailin's office where everyone who was not at the party could meet Darren. Rob, Cailin's boss, took the couple out to lunch and interspersed work talk with social talk. He was pretty blunt about making sure he would be invited to the wedding. It would be a great excuse to come to Ireland for future prospects for the company, he mused.

The couple left Rob and headed back to the house to finish packing and get ready to head to the airport for the evening flight to Dublin. Cailin could see that her parents were already suffering from the ensuing separation, so she tried to keep the mood as light as possible.

“Mom, before you know it you will be the one packing to come over to Ireland. Now mind how heavy your bags are. Can't have dad lugging bags for you and gran.” Cailin smiled at her mother.

“And you are more than welcome to come and visit anytime. My parents would love to have you visit them, even though it's not very near to Derry. They would welcome some American visitors so they can take you to church and introduce you to their friends.” Darren wanted to be encouraging also.

“You two have got to stop this. We'll be there in plenty of time for the wedding and be able to visit with both of you and Darren's parents. We just will miss you so much,” Mary was trying to hold back tears.

“Then mom, we'll be doing Skype so we can see each other,” Cailin looked at Sean for some fatherly help.

“The taxi is here and you two need to head off to the airport. Your mum and me will be starting to make our list for our trip tomorrow. Before you know it we'll be pestering you all over again.” Sean smiled as the two headed for the door.

And with that Darren and Cailin headed back to Ireland to work and finish planing their wedding. With an uneventful flight and the bus ride back to Derry, both of them were exhausted for the next day's work. Cailin had the option of taking an easy day since she had just been in her office, but Darren was going to have to run on fumes. Another charity concert was in the works and he would be very busy until just after it ended.

With Ruth back in the United States, Cailin realized that she really didn't have any friends other than the acquaintances she had me through Darren. And with the hours that Darren kept during charity event time, he was barely home from work. Cailin decided it was time for her to get out on her own in Derry and meet some new female friends. Just how she was going to do this posed another problem.

Cailin's skill as a researcher was put to work here in Ireland. She found some volunteer opportunities with a conservation organization that allowed her some outdoor time and a chance to do some gardening while she was at it. Cailin's thinking was that if she got out and participated in some of the local activities, she would have the chance to meet more people and possibly connect with some women her own age. Finishing work early because of her US connection, she had some time to devote to this project. There were random assignments and locations and not very many young women.

This was not going to be as simple as Cailin had thought it would be. She needed some female friendships and could not always depend on Darren to be there for her. Over a short period of time Cailin realized that there was no easy way to meet new friends in Derry and hanging out at the pubs as a single woman was not a great idea either. Very slowly an idea crept into her head that she felt might work. And as this idea formulated in her mind she started to take action on it.